Judge issues gag order in Tucker Cipriano trial

3:19 PM, June 10, 2013

Tucker Cipriano is questioned by Oakland County Assistant Prosecutor Kelli Megyesi on Thursday December 20th, 2012 in the Oakland County Circuit Courthouse where he is charged with first degree murder and two accounts of attempted murder in the killing of his father and beating of his mother and brother. / Ryan Garza/ Detroit Free Press

Detroit Free Press Staff Writer

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Oakland County Circuit Court Judge Shalina Kumar issued a gag order this afternoon preventing all parties involved in the Tucker Cipriano murder trial, including a family member who has been on radio and television lobbying for a plea deal, from talking until the end of the trial.

The only ones exempt from that order are the attorneys.

Oakland County prosecutors had filed an emergency motion earlier today seeking the order.

In recent days, Greg Cipriano, Robert Cipriano’s brother and Tucker’s uncle has appeared on numerous television and radio shows saying Prosecutor Jessica Cooper should allow Tucker Cipriano to plead to second-degree murder to avoid a trial. Cooper has refused, saying she must consider public safety.

In the emergency motion filed today, prosecutors alleged Greg Cipriano is attempting to influence jurors and the outcome of the trial. The motion asks that all parties, including witnesses, be prohibited from making public statements until the end of the trial. The trial is expected to last two to three weeks.

Prosecutors attached a transcript of a telephone conversation between Tucker and Greg Cipriano recorded at the jail. Greg Cipriano talked in the call about using the media to pressure Copper into a plea.

“We well go to all the lengths to expose them and I think that we have this power...the media is very short circuited and it’s got to be used strategically in the media," he said, according to the transcript.

Jury selection is continuing this afternoon. Several potential jurors have been dismissed, including a nurse who cared for one of the Ciprianos at a local hospital.